Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo
The embattled National Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, has renewed attempts to have the charges against him over a leaked tape thrown out of court.
His lawyers have
filed an application before an Accra High Court, hearing his case to challenge
the ‘constitutionality’ of the audio recording which led to his arrest and subsequent
arraignment.
Ofosu-Ampofo and
the party’s Deputy Communications Officer, Anthony Kwaku Boahen, have been
charged in respect of the leaked tape which captured how the NDC is allegedly
planning to commit crimes in the country and turn round to blame them on the
ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The alleged
leaked tape is among a list of documents filed by the Attorney General’s (AG’s)
Department for the trial of the two NDC top officials.
His lawyers are
now challenging the ‘authenticity’ and ‘constitutionality’ of the tape which
the prosecution intends to rely on for his trial.
The application
which is scheduled to be heard on November 4, 2019 is questioning how the audio
was obtained and the fact that it infringes on the constitutional right of Mr.
Ofosu-Ampofo.
Earlier Application
This is not the
first time his lawyers have tried to have the charges against him dropped and
the trial stopped.
His lawyers at
the beginning of the trial filed an application to strike out the two charges
of assault against a public officer.
His lawyers
argued that failure by the AG to provide particulars of the charges constitutes
a ‘defect’ and, therefore, he cannot be called to answer to them.
The Director of
Public Prosecution, Yvonne Atakora-Obuobisa, however, opposed the application
and urged the court to disregard it.
The presiding Judge,
Justice Samuel K. Asiedu, dismissed the application on the grounds that the
charges were valid and the defect, as stated by the lawyer, was not fatal to
the trial.
Stay Proceedings
Meanwhile, his lawyers
have filed a repeat application for stay of proceedings at the Court of Appeal,
pending the determination of an appeal against the judge’s decision to dismiss
their earlier application for stay of proceedings.
Tony Lithur, who
represents Ofosu-Ampofo, on July 30 moved a motion urging the court to stay its
proceedings while they appeal the trial court’s ruling.
He told the
court that there were exceptional circumstances for which the court should stay
its proceedings.
He averred that
the court was enjoined to protect fundamental human rights; one which he said
included protection against “oppressive criminal charges” being perpetrated by
the state against the NDC gurus.
He, therefore, said
the court should stay its proceedings to allow them to argue their case before
the Court of Appeal.
Opposition
The state represented
by Asiama Sampong, a Chief State Attorney, opposed the application saying it
did not raise any special circumstances for which the proceedings should be
stayed.
He said the
issue of the protection of the fundamental human rights of the accused person
would be dealt with during the trial and prayed the court
to refuse the application.
Mr. Sampong
described the application as frivolous and an abuse of the court process.
The trial Judge,
Justice Asiedu, dismissed the application and adjourned the case to October 17
for continuation. It is this decision that Ofosu-Ampofo is challenging at the
Court of Appeal.
At yesterday’s
proceedings, Mr. Lithur informed the court about the pendency of the
application at the Court of Appeal and asked for an adjournment.
Atakora-Obuobisa,
in response, said they were served with the application only two days ago and
they had filed their response accordingly.
The matter was adjourned to November 4, 2019.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak
